What did the Aztecs believe? · Did you know...? The Aztecs believed that four other worlds had...

The Aztecs: History Information Sheet

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What did the Aztecs believe?

The Aztecs believed in lots of different gods who controlled every aspect of their lives. The most important gods were Huitzilopochtli, the sun god, and Tlaloc, the rain god. The Aztecs believed that they had to keep these gods happy by performing different ceremonies, such as dancing, singing, praying and offering gifts.

The Aztecs believed that unless they kept the gods nourished with human blood, the world would end. This meant that every

morning, Aztecs would prick their ear lobes to offer two drops of blood. However, this was not enough. They also offered human sacrifices. This involved cutting out the person’s heart and giving it to the gods.

Did you know...?The Aztecs believed that four other worlds had previously existed but that they had all been destroyed. This fifth world could only be kept alive if the sun god was given enough human blood.

Men, women and children could all be a human

sacrifice. Sometimes, people who were captured in battle

were also used as a sacrifice. Giving your life to the gods was considered to

be a great honour and meant that you would go on to one of the four paradises

in the afterlife.

In the main city of Tenochtitlan, the sacrifices took place at the Templo Mayor (Great Temple). Here, a part of the sacrifice involved throwing the body

down the long steps. This is also where the skull rack was kept. The skull rack held 136,000 human

skulls that had been used in sacrifice.

Did you know...?The Templo Mayor had around 70 different buildings, a ball court for ritual games, the houses of warriors and priests as well as the shrines of the two most important gods, Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc.

Did you know...?The Aztecs believed in more than 200 different gods.

The remains of the skull altar in Tenochtitlan. These skulls are engraved in stone.

Model of Templo Mayor in Tenochtitlan

The Aztecs: History Picture Cards


The actual temple in Tenochtitlan was destroyed but it would have been very similar to these remains.



The remains of the skull altar from the Templo Mayor

‘Volador’, a ceremonial game

Aztec priests

Aztec gods, Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca



Tzitzimitl, an evil monster god

Huitzilopochtli, the god of the sun and of war

Statue of the goddess of maize

Stone disk of the moon goddess. This would have been at the bottom of the

temple steps for the blood of the human sacrifices to fall onto.



An Aztec mask used in religious ceremonies

An Aztec mask used in religious ceremonies

An Aztec mask used in religious ceremonies. This one is made from a

human skull.

Model of Templo M

ayor in Tenochtitlan

The Aztecs: History Deity Database


Aztec Gods and Goddesses

Name Title Interesting facts

Quetzalcoatl God of knowledge and creation.

He created humans and is represented by a feathered serpent.

Huitzilopochtli God of sun and of war He needed human blood to survive and beat the forces of darkness.

Xipe Totec God of the seasons of growing things

He peeled his skin off to feed the world. To honour this god every spring, priests would flay (skin) a victim and then wear the skin for twenty days.

Tlaloc God of the rainHe was often shown as having fangs and a curled nose. Children were offered as a sacrifice to Tlaloc as children’s tears were needed to bring the rain.

Chantico Goddess of the hearth and home

She was turned into a dog by one of the other gods for eating paprika which was a banned food.

Mictlantecuhtl God of the dead Those who died of natural causes went to live with this god.

ChalchiuhtlicueGoddess of running water (streams, lakes and rivers)

and fertility

She was the sister of Tlaloc. New mothers often worshipped her in the hope that she would protect their children from being sacrifices to her brother.

Huehuecoyotl God of deceptionHe is a trickster who likes playing pranks on people, often nasty pranks. He is also the god of merriment and partying.

Citlalicue Goddess of the stars She is a creator goddess who created the stars.

Xochiquetzal Goddess of flowers and beauty

She is often shown surrounded by flowers and butterflies. She is patron of the artists.

Chantico Xochiquetzal Huitzilopochtli

TlalocXipe Totec

The Aztecs: History Question Cards


Who were the two most important

gods to the Aztecs? What were they

the gods of?

How many gods did the Aztecs worship

(approximately)?

What did the Aztecs do every morning as an offering to the

gods?

The Aztecs were scared of the world

being destroyed. How many worlds

did the Aztecs believe had already

been destroyed?

What did the Aztecs believe

happened to the sun every evening?

Where was Templo Mayor and what

was it like?

Why did the Aztecs practise human sacrifice?

Who could be offered to the gods

as a human sacrifice?

What other ways of keeping the gods

happy did the Aztecs have?

Not all gods were ‘good’. Can you

name some gods who liked to cause mischief or pain?

What did Aztec priests look like

and what did they do?

Why did priests flay (peel the skin off) victims and

then wear the skin for 20 days?

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The Aztecs: History Acrostic Poem


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